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Top Cat (film)
Top Cat is a 2017 American computer-animated action comedy-drama film produced by Warner Animation Group, Access Entertainment, NicThic Productions, and The Kerner Entertainment Company and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the 48th animated feature from NicThic. Based on the cartoon by Hanna-Barbera, this film is part of the Top Cat franchise, and the third theatrical Top Cat film released. Jason Harris Katz, Chris Edgerly, Matthew Piazzi, and Benjamin Diskin reprise their vocal roles as Top Cat, Benny, Fancy-Fancy, and Spook, while series newcomers Nolan North and Jess Harnell provide the voices of Choo-Choo and Brain respectively, with Kenan Thompson voicing new villain Bottom Dog. In the film, the aforementioned members of the gang embark on an adventure to stop Bottom Dog and his plans of capturing them. The film is directed by D.A. Nichols and Abbey Thickson, produced by Jordan Kerner, written by James Sharp, and a story by Nichols, Sharp, and Catherine Woard. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on December 15, 2017, and was theatrically released on December 22, 2017, in the United States. Production for the film began in November 2015, with D.A. Nichols and Abbey Thickson announcing that they wanted to create an American animated Top Cat film that would "transcend generations." The score for the film was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, who re-orchestrated Leoncio Lara Bon's score from the previous two Top Cat films and included additional original theme music for the film. The film also includes an original song by Blake Shelton as well as a cover version of Sia Furler's "Rainbow" by actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove. The film has received positive reviews from critics, who considered it as an improvement over the 2011 animated Mexican film adaptation and its 2015 computer-animated prequel as well as praising its story, humor, animation, character design, character development, and voice acting, but criticizing its dark tone, overused crude jokes, and weak villains. The film grossed $388 million over a $90 million budget. On July 13, 2017, a sequel, titled Top Cat 2, was announced, and was released on December 20, 2019. Plot In the alley in New York City, Top Cat (Jason Harris Katz) begins his morning with his gang, consisting of Benny the Ball (Chris Edgerly), Choo-Choo (Nolan North), Brain (Jess Harnell), Fancy-Fancy (Matthew Piazzi), and Spook (Benjamin Diskin), by heading down to the casino, disguising themselves as humans. They were able to attract some guards, who then let them in. After a montage of them playing games, Brain suggests that they stay at an inn so that they would feel more comfortable, to which Top Cat agrees. After getting their room, they decide to look around and have fun in their new room. The next morning, Top Cat suggests that they go out and catch the sights around New York. During this, they suddenly get caught by ushers after going into the Apollo Theater. So they decided to walk across the walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge and back across. Meanwhile, a red dog, named Bottom Dog (Kenan Thompson) goes into Heather's Diner and gets what he wants to eat after going through a scuffle with the cashier. As he walks out, he is joined by his two nephews, Scorn (Tom Kenny) and Scuffle (Maurice LaMarche). As they got into the car, Bottom Dog explains to his nephews that he is looking for Top Cat and his gang. The two reluctantly agree to help him capture him and his gang. Back with Top Cat and his gang, they start to feel hungry and they head down to the drive-thru to get something. After getting their order, they are spotted by Bottom Dog, which leads to Top Cat driving away fast to evade from them, eventually going to a hiding spot. After that Bottom Dog realizes that they lost visual from them and he drives his nephews back to his house. As Top Cat slowly pulled away from the hiding spot, he and his gang drive safely back to the inn, and they got in bed and went to sleep afterwards. The next morning, Top Cat tells his gang that he has decided to go to Coney Island to have fun there. The six then drive down to Coney Island, where they go on rides such as the Cyclone, the Steeplechase, and the Thunderbolt. While playing the games, they notice two twin cats fighting over their toys, and Choo-Choo decides to break up the fight and get them more toys for both of them. The cats then introduce themselves and the two twin cats names are Cale (Tim Heidecker) and Lale (Eric Wareheim). Fancy-Fancy then notices a cat singing on stage and they go and check it out. The cat is revealed to be Kitty Sparkles (Miranda Cosgrove), the best pop star singer in the alley and all of New York. Choo-Choo points out that he is the biggest fan of Kitty Sparkles, and they sign her autograph. After that, Kitty Sparkles gets a call from her agent on the phone telling her that she has to go to the recording studio to finish working on her single. Meanwhile, with Bottom Dog present, Scorn and Scuffle were getting stuff for him until they were alerted by their parents, Steven (Stephen Stanton) and Serena (Jane Wiedlin). They ask what their sons are up to, to which Scorn and Scuffle respond that they're just going to see their uncle. They took the stuff and got back in the car. Bottom Dog then says that he needs two more people to help him, to which Scorn and Scuffle suggest Bad Dog (Diedrich Bader), Panther (Marieve Herington), and Rat (Joey D'Auria), Mr. Big's former henchmen from Top Cat Begins. While driving down to Dog Jail to get them out, they pass by the old house where Top Cat's family used to live. Scorn is suddenly hit in the face by a newspaper thrown by a local paperboy, whereupon they notice a picture of Trixie (Melissa Disney), Top Cat's love interest on it, and they also found an address to where Top Cat's family was at right now. Bottom Dog and his nephews then continued down to Dog Jail. Back with Top Cat and his gang, Top Cat was driving down somewhere, in which Choo-Choo asks Top Cat where they're going, in which Top Cat responds that they're going to the Starlight Night Club, the same place where he, Choo-Choo, Brain, and Fancy-Fancy went at the beginning of Top Cat Begins. As they walked in, they went to the place where a dance party was being held, and they began to dance along to the song. After that, the Maitre C was looking for some performers to perform some songs on stage. Top Cat goes up first, and he performs a tap dance to the song "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers. Second, Choo-Choo goes up next and he sings "Dragostea Din Tei" by O-Zone. Third, Spook comes on stage and he dances and sings "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!. Top Cat and his gang are amazed by Spook's dance moves. After that, Top Cat and his gang are encountered by Trixie, who is also amazed by Spook's performance. Fourth, Fancy-Fancy goes on stage and performs two songs by Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever". Top Cat's family finally becomes aware that he is being spotted and they go down to New York to find him. Bottom Dog bails Mr. Big's former henchmen, Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat, out of prison. He sends them in his car to get J.B. and Matilda's children, Myra and Gold Pelt. They succeed after dealing with Officer Dibble, and they take them to Jazz and Beau. When Bottom Dog requests he be made artwork from their fur, Jazz angrily refuses, not wanting them to be harmed, with Beau adding that they are good cats. Angered, he has them bound and gagged and returns to his original plan to make cat fur coats. Myra and Gold Pelt, along with the other cats use a signal that Myra had in her pocket earlier to send a distress signal, which is picked up by Top Cat and his gang, along with Trixie, and they set out to save the cats. Along the way, Top Cat gets a call from Officer Dibble saying that he got put into a well by Bad Dog, Rat, and Panther. Along the way down to the warehouse, they are encountered by the Dog Gang, and they start shooting at them with paintball guns, ensuring another drive-by. The gang hide again and continue on. As they enter the warehouse, they frighten Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat, but Bottom Dog knocks Trixie unconscious and she and Top Cat are captured and thrown into the cage, while his gang is thrown into a closet. The Brain then begins to unlock the closet door using a key he had earlier which fit perfectly. They find Top Cat in despair, but his gang cheers him up by reminding that he has done a lot of great things in the past. Top Cat breaks out and releases the rest of the cats. They escape through the building's roof while having the villains stalled on where they are, with Trixie freeing Jazz and Beau. The other cats leave and Top Cat and his gang get into their car and drive off, but Bottom Dog, Scorn, Scuffle, Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat discover the escape and pursue them in Bottom Dog's SUV, a chase ensues through the streets of New York, crashing through Central Park in the process. Bottom Dog and his henchmen finally corner the cats in the alley. Top Cat and his gang try to hold them off, but they are undaunted. Trixie arrives on the scene, having been driven by Jazz and Beau. Trixie then fakes a heart attack after Panther swung a tire iron to bash her head with. This causes Bottom Dog, in his distraction, to knock out Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat, and fall into a trash can. Top Cat and his gang then retreat back to their car, putting it in reverse, sending Bottom Dog, Scorn, Scuffle, Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat scrambling into the East River. The NYPD then arrest Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat, and Bottom Dog is taken to Dog Jail, and then to a mental institute for his cat obsession, and Scorn and Scuffle are punished by their parents for what they did with Bottom Dog. Top Cat's family and Officer Dibble, who were all told by Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat it was Bottom Dog who made them do it, arrive. They thank him and his gang. In result, Top Cat is given a $500,000 reward for capturing Bottom Dog. In the finale of the film, Kitty Sparkles walks on stage at the Starlight Night Club and performs the song "Rainbow" in front of everyone. During this, Top Cat and Trixie enter a relationship and in the final scene, they kiss on stage. In a mid-credits scene, it is revealed that Panther is looking for Fancy-Fancy in the inn (unaware that he isn't there), saying that she knows she's been a bad girl, but Fancy-Fancy would be crazy not to take her back. But instead of Fancy-Fancy, it's really Cale and Lale, the twin cats that Top Cat and his gang met at Coney Island, waiting for her and they shout, "Did someone say CRAZY?!", as they shut off the lights as the credits roll. In a post-credits scene, Scorn and Scuffle are dragged by their parents outside to the front yard and are thrown into a dumpster as punishment. Voice Cast * Jason Harris as Top Cat, the indisputable leader of the Alley Gang and the main protagonist * Chris Edgerly as Benny the Ball, Top Cat's right-hand man. * Nolan North as Choo-Choo, a pink cat who is also a skilled poker player. He is also considered to be the biggest fan of Kitty Sparkles. * Jess Harnell as Brain, the dim-witted member of the Alley Gang. * Matthew Piazzi as Fancy-Fancy, the common helper of the Alley Gang and most commonly chats with girls. * Benjamin Diskin as Spook, the streetwise member of the Alley Gang. * Melissa Disney as Trixie, Top Cat's love interest from Top Cat: The Movie. * Bill Lobley as Officer Charlie Dibble, an NYPD officer who keeps an eye on the alley. * Kenan Thompson as Bottom Dog, the main antagonist of the film and Top Cat's rival and arch-nemesis. * Tom Kenny and Maurice LaMarche as Scorn and Scuffle, Bottom Dog's nephews and assistants. * Glozell as Amy Vandergelt, Top Cat and the gang's friend who goes on adventures with them. She was Last seen from the TV movie Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats. * Madison Hu as Jennifer Dibble, the 14-year-old daughter of Charlie and Suzie Dibble and Carlos's younger sister. * Max Charles as Carlos Dibble, the 15-year-old son of Charlie and Suzie Dibble and Jennifer's older brother. * Ellen DeGeneres as Suzie Dibble, also known as "Mrs. Dibble", Charlie Dibble's wife who is a friend to all cats, including Top Cat. She resembles Camile Toh from Sausage Party and Vanessa Bloome from Bee Movie. * Oprah Winfrey as Ms. Vandergelt, Amy Vandergelt's Mother who's husband died in a war. * Diedrich Bader as Bad Dog, Top Cat's bully. He previously worked for Mr. Big in Top Cat Begins. * Jason Alexander as Mervet, a cat who is fat and lonely. He later teams up with T.C. and his gang to defeat Bottom Dog, * Marieve Herington as Panther, Bottom Dog's henchwoman. She previously worked for Mr. Big, and was one of Fancy-Fancy's romances in Top Cat Begins. * Joey D'Auria as Rat, Bottom Dog's secondary henchman. * Wil Heuser as Robby, Cale and Lale's father. * Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim as Cale and Lale, two twin cats who commonly fight over which toy is theirs. * Brian Scott McFadden as Jazz, a clever and conniving cat. * Jim Conroy as Beau, Jazz's red-furred, right-hand cat. * Kellen Goff as J.B., Top Cat's father. * Cheri Oteri as Matilda, Top Cat's mother. * Aria Noelle Curzon as Myra, Top Cat's sister. * Matthew Lintz as Gold Pelt (G.P.), Top Cat's younger brother. * Miranda Cosgrove as Kitty Sparkles, a pop singer. * Stephen Stanton as Steven, Scorn and Scuffle's father. * Jane Wiedlin as Serena, Scorn and Scuffle's mother. Additional voices * Ashley Albert * Fabiana Arrastia * Greg Baglia * Rajia Baroudi * Theodore Borders * Susan Boyajian * Edita Brychta * Ralph Byers * Dennis T. Carnegie * Jack Casey * Elijah Cook * Tony Daniels * Julian Dean * Clara Ellis * Jason Harris * Phyllis Johnson * Alexa Kahn * Sean Kenin * Joanna Leeds * Alex Mandelberg * April Matthis * Ron McClary * Kristin McGuire * J.D. Mollison * Christie Moreau * Eric Nelsen * Chris Phillips * Georgette Reilly * Victoria Reynoso * Peter Pamela Rose * Joan Ryan * Jesse Vilinsky Production Development In 2014, D.A. Nichols and Abbey Thickson viewed the classic Top Cat cartoon and Top Cat: The Movie to figure out how to make the titular character culturally relevant. Following a trip to New York City to explore the location of T.C's alley, the filmmakers enlisted Will Finn, a veteran animator to serve as a story artist for the film, with Nichols and Thickson directing. When the NicThic Productions crew saw Top Cat Begins, they liked the film due to the CGI animation and the character design, such as Bad Dog, Panther, and Rat, whom NicThic found as the decent characters, along with Trixie from the first film. Abbey Thickson described Panther as "a cotton-candy hair kitty with resemblances to Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit". D.A. Nichols then stated that Trixie would be given a new look for the film, because he noticed that her hairstyle looked too much like Shirley, one of Fancy-Fancy's romances from the original cartoon, also adding that he doesn't want people to become "too confused". Because of this, NicThic had expressed interest in making an American computer-animated film in the hopes that the film would be an improvement over the two films. In November 2015, NicThic officially announced on their online blog that pre-production on the film had started, under the working title Top Cat Returns. Nichols and Thickson were confirmed as directors, with James Sharp writing the script. Nichols and Sharp wrote a film treatment based on a discussion among themselves and Catherine Woard. Nichols has stated that Warner Bros. decided to produce the film because of their "pure passion" for the cartoon series. In the winter of 2016, there were claims about the film's title. In March 2016, IGN reported the title of the film would be simply called T.C., while ComingSoon.net reported it would be Top Cat the following month. On May 29, 2016, Warner Bros. and NicThic officially confirmed that the film was retitled Top Cat. During the course of the next few months, there were discussions about what was going to be featured in the film. In April 2016, Thickson stated that the film would include what the interior of Top Cat's trash can looks like. According to her, she stated, "We all know that we never got to see what was inside his trash can, so I thought it would be a creative idea to see what T.C. does in the morning". In August 2016, it was confirmed that Jordan Kerner was brought in to produce the film. In September 2016, Abbey Thickson posted a photo on the NicThic blog stating that they had begun animation on the film. Casting On November 5, 2015, Jason Harris announced on Twitter that he would be reprising his role as Top Cat, but remained uncertain whether to reprise the roles of Choo-Choo and Brain. The following month, Chris Edgerly, Matthew Piazzi, Benjamin Diskin, and Bill Lobley were confirmed to be returning to reprise their respective roles of Benny the Ball, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, and Officer Charlie Dibble. Harris later announced on December 7, 2015 that he would not be voicing Choo-Choo and Brain due to creative differences and wanting to stick with voicing Top Cat. It was later announced that Nolan North and Jess Harnell had stepped in to voice Choo-Choo and Brain respectively. In May 2016, Kellen Goff, Cheri Oteri, Aria Curzon, and Matthew Lintz stepped in to voice the members of Top Cat's family, J.B., Matilda, Myra, and Gold Pelt, respectively. In June 2016 at the CinemaCon, Nichols and Thickson said the film would have Top Cat meeting his new rival, Bottom Dog. The two later announced that Kenan Thompson had joined in to voice Bottom Dog, the film's villain. Wil Heuser also joined in to voice a new character. Animation The CG imagery and animation are handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who also did the animation for Storks. When Discreet Art Productions sold the character models to SPI, the studio replaced the old rigging system Discreet Art used and replaced it with a brand new one that is suitable for SPI. The artists at SPI also added in hair, cloth, and fur onto the models for character effects simulation. Music In January 2016, Abbey Thickson confirmed that Mark Mothersbaugh will be composing the score for the film. On May 2, 2017, Mothersbaugh confirmed that he had started working on the film's score. Marketing An estimated $150 million marketing effort helped promote Top Cat, and along with its production budget, the spending has reached $250 million. Warner Bros.'s marketing campaign began a month before its release with the campaign focused on the Alley Gang, their personalities, and the humor of the voice cast via custom media promotions. Warner Bros. partnered with more than 15 worldwide, including tie-ins with McDonald's, Ziploc, Coca-Cola, HomeGoods, Chevrolet, Motel 6, Xfinity, and JCPenney. Trailers The film's teaser trailer was released on February 24, 2017, and was attached to theatrical showings of Rock Dog and Gabriel Garza 3. Six teaser trailers featuring each member of the Alley Gang were released online at NicThic's YouTube page on March 7, 2017. The official first theatrical trailer was released online at NicThic's YouTube page on June 4, 2017, and was shown on films such as Cars 3, Despicable Me 3, The Emoji Movie, and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. A second trailer was shown on October 6, 2017, and was attached to theatrical showings of My Little Pony: The Movie. A third trailer was released on November 22, 2017, with Disney/Pixar's Coco. TV spots aired the following month. Merchandise Coinciding with the film's release, McDonald's produced nine toys in their Happy Meals. Scholastic released four books for the film, ''Top Cat: The Junior Novel'', Games A video game based on the film, titled ''Top Cat: The Video Game'''' was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Xbox One on December 19, 2017 in North America. The game was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developed by Avalanche Software. Rating Top Cat is rated PG by the MPAA. The film was originally going to be rated G, but on August 5, 2017, the rating was changed to PG because Warner Animation Group, the company that is producing the film, never produces G-rated films at all, since every one of its feature-length films is rated PG by the MPAA, due to the fact that the rating system became more strict. Release On April 7, 2016, NicThic Productions set the release date to June 16, 2017, but in March 2017, the release date was pushed to December 22, 2017, to avoid competition with ''Cars 3, also scheduled for release on that day. Top Cat ''premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on December 15, 2017, and was screened at VidCon. The film got an early release in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, 2017, in 3D, 2D, and selected IMAX theaters. The film had a special screening at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on November 24, 2017. Home media ''Top Cat was released on Digital HD on March 6, 2018, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on March 20, 2018, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Special features include deleted scenes, the music video of "Rainbow", as well as the shorts The Top Cat Zone ''and ''T.C.'s Guide to New York, and the television special ''A Top Cat Christmas''. Reception Critical response On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75%, based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Top Cat brings us amazing animation and loads of humor, which make it another introduction to the Top Cat series." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an "A+" to F scale. Box office As of May 25, 2018, Top Cat ''has grossed $191.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $196.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $388 million, against a production budget of $90 million. In the United States, ''Top Cat was released alongside Pitch Perfect 3, Downsizing, Father Figures, and The Post, and was projected to gross $9-15 million from 2,750 theaters during its opening weekend. It made $77.6 on its first day, including $17.5 from Thursday night previews. Accolades Sequel On July 13, 2017, during the film's production, Abbey Thickson announced that a sequel has been planned, with her and D.A. Nichols returning to direct, and the screenplay being written by Peter Ackerman and Xeth Feinberg. D.A. Nichols also stated that the film would include animation and live-action combined, similar to the 2003 film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Logan Paul and Peyton List were cast as the lead live-action characters, with Harris, Edgerly, North, Harnell, Piazzi, and Diskin reprising their roles as their respective characters. On May 5, 2018, it was announced that the film would switch to being a hand-drawn/CGI animated film, so because of creative difficulties with principal photography, Paul, List, and Johnson switch over to voice new characters. Bill Lobley was also set to reprise his role as Dibble. The sequel's release date was confirmed to be December 20, 2019. Gallery See Top Cat (film)/Gallery Category:Films Category:Top Cat